New Mexico has a drug problem. The state routinely holds close to the top position nationally for overdose deaths. No one has a clear reason why – some say poverty or unemployment, or easy access to drugs along distribution routes north.

Arizona Senator John McCain joined anti-government protesters in Ukraine over the weekend to support their European ambitions and threatening sanctions against the country’s government, should it use additional violence to disperse the protesters.

Saturday is the one year anniversary of the mass shooting in Connecticut, when 20 children and six staff members were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. With the memory still fresh in Arizona, students and teachers here have mixed opinions about the potential for gun violence at school.

Last November, Arizona wildlife officials began a program to re-introduce bighorn sheep to the Santa Catalina mountains north of Tucson. Thirty-one of the iconic animals were trucked in from a wilderness area, fitted with tracking devices and offloaded into the mountains.
But shortly thereafter, another iconic creature, the native mountain lion, stalked and killed two of the bighorns. Then those mountain lions were shot and killed by Arizona Game and Fish.

Come New Year’s Day, Arizonans could have a better sense of what it costs to see the doctor. Earlier this year, state lawmakers approved a measure requiring many hospitals and physician practices to make available lists of how much their most common procedures cost for patients who pay out of pocket.

CityScape is home to one of the Valley’s outdoor holiday rinks, but it is not the only one. Even though wintertime in the Valley does not generally include snow or even temperatures that would allow snow to stick on the ground, you can still pretend you are skating around that massive tree at Rockefeller Center without leaving Phoenix.

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